These words are uttered by Lady Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 5
when she instructs her husband, Macbeth, how to behave in front of king Duncan when he
arrives at their home. Right before this quote begins, Macbeth says that the king plans
to leave their home tomorrow, to which Lady Macbeth replies that that day shall never
come ("O, never Shall sun that morrow see!"). This is so because they have both decided
to kill Duncan, so that they could become the king and the queen of Scotland. After Lady
Macbeth says that the king will not leave their home once he sets foot in their house,
she tells her husband that others may understand his true intentions because his
"face...is as a book where men may read strange matters." Therefore, he should conceal
his secret ambition by pretending to be a great host, who will take care of Duncan and
the guests, yet he must not forget about his plan to murder
Duncan:
Bear
welcome in your eye,Your hand, your tongue; look like the
innocent flower,But be the serpent
under't.
He must be
duplicitous by pretending to be loyal to his king in public, yet secretly planning to
kill him afterwards. Lady Macbeth continues by saying how the king must be taken care of
("He that's coming must be provided for..."), which means he must be welcomed
appropriately, yet be killed when the right conditions are created for that. She assures
Macbeth that she will take care of the whole plan and that their lives will change for
the better that night.
One of the most prominent themes of
the play can be observed here - appearance versus reality. Macbeth is instructed to
appear welcoming and loyal, yet, his real intentions, awakened and backed by Lady
Macbeth, are unscrupulous and evil.
No comments:
Post a Comment